Case Number 04488

THE MOLLY MAGUIRES

The Charge

"You either end up on the gallows or coughing your lungs out, what's the
difference?"

Opening Statement

The Molly Maguires were a secret fraternity of Irish miners in the last half
of the 19th century. Living and working in deplorable conditions, they fought
for workers' rights with a campaign of industrial sabotage, including
gunpowder-laden explosives and carefully planned murders. This is their
story.

Facts of the Case

Jack Kehoe (Sean Connery, Dr. No, Zardoz) and the other Irish
Catholics working the Pennsylvania coal mines of 1876 have little more than
pennies to show for their dangerous backbreaking labor. Attempts at unionizing
have consistently being obstructed by the mine operators, who have employed the
strong-arm tactics of the local police. As a last resort, Kehoe installs himself
as the leader of a group called The Molly Maguires, intent on striking back
through violence.

As these acts of on-the-job terrorism become more frequent, Detective James
McParlan (Richard Harris, Cromwell, Camelot) is hired to
infiltrate the Mollies and provide the police with the evidence needed to put
nooses around their coal-blackened necks. But when McParlan starts living in the
camp, he not only develops feelings for his landlady Mary Raines (Samantha
Eggar, Doctor Dolittle) but also sympathy and understanding for the
Mollies.

The Evidence

Paramount probably believed it had a hit on its hands with The Molly
Maguires, but sadly, that was not the case. Beautiful cinematography and
strong performances were not enough to save this historical drama, which turned
out to be a big-budget flop when it was released at the beginning of the
1970s.

As presented through the eyes of McParlan, the film is generally sympathetic
towards the Mollies and their plight. This is not surprising considering the
talent behind the camera. Director Martin Ritt (Hud, Norma Rae)
and screenwriter Walter Bernstein (Fail-Safe, The Front) were both
blacklisted as Communists during the 1950s. Because of this, some have come out
against The Molly Maguires as a "socialist" film, but that's
not entirely accurate. For all its faults, the film does make an attempt to
present a balanced look at the Mollies and concerns itself with "why"
the group did what did, instead of blindly championing them as heroes. Still, I
will certainly allow that those who go into the film flatly disagreeing with
Ritt's favorable view of these infamous Irishmen probably won't find much to
change their minds.

Even those sympathetic to the Mollies would do best to keep the phrase
"based on a true story" squarely in mind while watching this film.
Great care certainly went into recreating the period and the wretched conditions
of the mining towns, and the film was shot at a real Pennsylvania coalmine. The
story itself is an important one, and even recent claims that the Mollies were a
fiction used by mine bosses to keep their employees living in squalor does not
negate the conditions and danger that these immigrants were forced to live in.
Where the film falters slightly is in the screenplay based upon those events. It
becomes obvious pretty early on that Bernstein has grafted typical Hollywood
situations onto historical ones for the benefit of the audience who might not
care about the Mollies. Many loose ends are neatly tied up in unconvincing ways,
and the film even incorporates an unlikely love story between long-suffering
Mary Raines and the detective who wants to give them both a better life. Beyond
the set pieces and the costumes, the film just doesn't give the impression of
being very authentic, and the underlying message about labor is cheapened by the
addition of conspicuously fictitious plotlines.

What might be assumed to be the central conflict of the film -- between the
mine owners and the workers -- is strangely missing here, although every other
possible source of inequality is explored. The local police force proves to be
the Mollies' greatest burden, not only beating down miners and vengefully
attacking the rebel bombers, but also hiring Detective McParlan in the first
place. A further conflict is thrown in here -- the police force is commanded by
a Welshman, whom McParlan feels can't understand his people's tendency toward
violence. If that wasn't enough, the film further makes distinctions between the
Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics. Admittedly, the actual events were
complicated, but so many potential sources of tension dilutes the original
reason the miners were fighting back in the first place. Curiously, the owner
appears only once, doling out pathetic paychecks to the exhausted miners. The
film really would have benefited from focusing on the owners' role; even a scene
of the fed-up bosses cracking down on the police for not preventing some of the
explosions really would have gone a long way toward giving the Mollies a clear
motivation.

The Molly Maguires also contains a mixed message about violence. By
his own admission, Kehoe is not a revolutionary, and just commits these acts of
terrorism against the mine to show that he's alive, that he won't roll over and
take it with a smile. But what is chalked up to playful civil disobedience in
some scenes invariably results in more grievous acts by both the Mollies and the
police. And the violence in the film is quite striking. Brawls are frequent, and
a Sunday afternoon rugby game proves to be as brutal as onscreen fist fighting
gets. The ending of the film, a confrontation between Kehoe and McParlan, is
ambiguous and concentrates more on personal conflicts than grand statements on
violence and industrial sabotage.

The film is also hindered by its purposely slow pace. Occasionally this
works, calling attention to the deliberate photography of Oscar-winning
cinematographer James Wong Howe. Other times, it just makes the picture drag.
Clocking in at a two hours, including several stretches performed completely
without dialogue, The Molly Maguires feels much longer than it needs to
be.

Besides the camera work, the film also gets a boost from its significant
star power. Connery does an admirable job with the few lines he has as the tacit
Kehoe, but he is overshadowed by Richard Harris, who pulls off a great
performance as James McParlan. As the conflicted double agent caught between his
duty, his desires, and his ethnicity, Harris gives a subtle, believable reality
to his character that propels the film in the right direction. Samantha Eggar is
also strong as Mary, easily one of her finest roles before seemingly fading away
in a series of low-budget Canadian horror films.

Kudos are due to Paramount for treating The Molly Maguires with a
more than satisfactory presentation. Very few scratches are evident on this
bright, colorful anamorphic transfer, which does justice to Howe's striking
cinematography. The atmospheric effects on the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix
occasionally seemed a little forced, especially in noisy bar scenes, but for the
most part this a nice, clear track solidly delivering dialogue and Henry
Mancini's curiously cheerful score.

Don't bother looking for any extras, because you won't find any.

Closing Statement

An interesting but minor film, The Molly Maguires is just too muddled
to properly apply an articulate message to its subject. Those looking for a
dramatic account of labor relations will be more satisfied with Norma
Rae, Martin Ritt's later 1979 film about clothing shop unions, which
explores a similar topic in a much more direct way.

The Verdict

Since the film was unable to call a credible witness, I find it guilty of
Hollywoodizing history. The Molly Maguires are hereby sentenced to change their
name to The Jerry Maguires, and limit themselves to detonating Cuba Gooding Jr.
DVDs.